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Ancient Origins of Agroforestry, Polycultures, and Permaculture As We Know It

November 25, 2015

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ANCIENT ORIGINS OF AGROFORESTRY, POLYCULTURES, AND PERMACULTURE AS WE KNOW IT

The design philosophy of Permaculture as we know it today was founded by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, but the methods used are by no means novel or even innovative practices.

Ironically, permaculture’s methods are cutting edge in comparison to the dull spade of today’s large scale monoculture–but, the roots extend far beyond what either blade can reach.

Indeed, as Sepp Holzer demonstrated himself, anyone who observes nature for long enough, and adjusts their methods to ensure the best outcome as far as ecosystem health, abundance of harvest, etc will come to similar conclusions.

Without knowing it, Holzer developed and implemented techniques that unintentionally fell under the qualifications of permaculture and polyculture. He was even contacted and asked if he would like to define his methods as such, so universally compatible were they with the emerging set of permaculture philosophies. His book, Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture, A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening, details his observations and methods in depth.

ANCIENT ORIGINS OF AGROFORESTRY AND POLYCULTURES

But as stated before, this synchronicity doesn’t hearken to the collective innovation of these modern times. I’ve been doing some research, and the knowledge is actually quite ancient–just ask indigenous peoples from around the world, who have traditionally practiced techniques of agroforestry and other polycultural land management practices for many generations.

Humans around the world, particularly indigenous cultures, have practiced permaculture methods for tens of thousands of years. Today’s permaculture as a movement is certainly neatly packaged and understandable for contemporary urban audiences. However, diverse indigenous cultures hold within their oral traditions tomes of place-based polycultural knowledge, attained over observation, trial and error over the course of at least tens of thousands of years. Additionally, the indigenous cultural ethic of community and planetary stewardship is responsible for the permaculture methods we seek to proliferate today.

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Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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